


One Thing

by Lord_Byron_Mudkippington



Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:22:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26698183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lord_Byron_Mudkippington/pseuds/Lord_Byron_Mudkippington
Summary: After being knocked off of the hijacked Atlesian ship, Neo comes to in a world surprisingly different than the one she thought she'd be in.
Kudos: 8





	One Thing

There was dust in the air when she opened her eyes. The sky was dark, covered in a strange mixture of black and gray. She could hear the cry of the Grimm, sounding more distant than she expected. When she tried to get up, her body immediately sent her back down, pain shooting up and down her frame. She couldn't remember feeling like this before.

She had done this: the girl Roman called 'Little Red'. She'd had her on the ropes, but her umbrella had been opened and she was swept away by the wind. If that girl hadn't been so clever, she would have been dead. It wouldn't matter, though. Little Red had been left in a precarious position, and Roman would have finished her off in her absence. What stage of the plan were they on now, though?

The plan... The sound of the Grimm made her believe that it must have been successful. The roars were loud, though distinctly distant. She must have been blown pretty far by the wind, and knocked out when she hit the ground. Any amount of time could have passed while she was unconscious, and she wouldn't know how far into the plan Cinder and her lackeys were. She was sure they had succeeded, though. Roman had never failed before.

Her aura had healed her enough that she could get back up without much issue, allowing her to see that she had indeed been blown away pretty far. She had been lying unconscious in the middle of an abandoned street. Way off in the distance, she could see the specter of Beacon, and the gigantic Grimm that lied atop it. However, it was strangely still. The noises all seemed to come from the black dots circling it: more Grimm. That was odd, but she wasn't going to question it. Roman could explain it to her when they met up again.

She found her umbrella lying some feet away from her, picking it up and tapping it on her shoulder. Letting it lie there, she started the long walk back to Beacon. She wasn't sure if Roman would be there, but after such a tremendous defeat, the hunters and huntresses would have surely scattered. There would have to be someone there who could fill her in on what had happened in her absence. Even if she had to speak to Cinder, whom she wasn't all that keen on.

More and more Grimm flew overhead as she got closer to Beacon, and she could see them storming from both sides of her, off in the distance. With all the Grimm there, it wouldn't be safe for any of them to congregate there. Her smile faded into a frown as she stared up into the ashen sky. There were so many of them... Had Cinder not realized how much of an issue they would be? Did she think she could control all of them?

She shook her head, dropping her umbrella and dragging the tip through the dirt. Teaming up with Cinder had always been a risk, but Roman had deemed the risk worthwhile, and she followed along. She trusted Roman with her life, in a way that Cinder and her cronies could never understand. Neither of their loyalties lied with them and their fatalistic plans. They were going to get rich, and they were going to survive. That's what the two of them did best.

By the time she got to the school, she could see that the situation there was worse than expected. Grimm were crawling over every inch of the grounds, and there didn't seem to be a huntsman, huntress, or one of her own in sight. She knew that continuing to be there would only endanger her, so she needed to leave and find somewhere to get in contact with Roman. She had tried multiple times to contact him with her scroll, but their communications were down. Her initial text remained unanswered, and her calls the same.

She decided that her best course of action was to head over to Vale. Disguising herself as an unassuming citizen would be a piece of cake, and then she could find some way to get in contact with Roman. Since both of them were continuously left in the dark on Cinder's plans, she wasn't sure where they might be heading next. Roman wouldn't leave without her, though. Maybe he had returned to their usual Vale safehouse.

As she made the trek back to where she had come from, she was kicking up little bits of rock and other debris, counting each object and making a little game out of it. She had counted three rocks and four pieces of ship debris when her trail came to a downed Atlesian ship. It was in terrible shape, split apart and still bearing the scorch marks of a fire that must have raged across the bow. She smiled, wondering if it was one of the ships Roman had shot down, or if it was taken down by all the Grimm.

The next thing she kicked didn't have the same feel as the other debris. Her eyes widened when she saw it fluttering away from her foot. It was a hat. She started walking faster towards it, bending down to pick it up. Her eyes widened further when she saw the familiar shape of the hat, and the red ring just above the brim. It was... It was _Roman's_ hat.

Her mouth dropped into a silent 'o', quickly brushing the dust off the hat. She flipped it over and looked inside, finding the familiar frayed tag still attached to the inside of the brim. Roman never went anywhere without his hat. She knew how much he loved it. Putting it on her own head snuggly, she hurried over to the wreckage. Had it been their stolen ship that had gone down? What had caused that to happen? Had Roman escaped?

She crawled over the wreckage, searching desperately for any trace of Roman. There were only so many places to search, though. The ship was in ruins, and it wasn't hiding much from public viewing. There was no sign of him: nothing except for his hat. All she could do was move away from the ship, pulling the hat off her head and wishing it was someone else's.

It took her a moment to realize tears were streaming down her face. She hadn't cried since before she met Roman, but she couldn't stop herself. She just let the tears fall, gripping onto his hat tightly. He was gone: she could feel it. It was as if she could tell that the world lacked his presence. He was gone... She fell to her knees, her mouth open as she silently wailed. He had always let her know that her being mute wasn't a hindrance, but just part of who she was. It felt like a hindrance now, though, as all of her agony and rage were trapped within her, unable to be released like a normal person could.

The tears kept falling, but her sad eyes turned to rage. Little Red... She had been on the ship as well, but she hadn't found anything to prove she had perished as well. If she was alive, then it was _her_ fault: _she_ killed Roman. It was Cinder's fault too, though. She had been the one to call all those Grimm to this location. All Roman wanted to do was be on the winning side. They were supposed to survive _together_ , and now he was gone. Cinder wouldn't clue them in on what was happening. She had led Roman to his death. It was _her_ fault too.

Slowly she stood back up, putting Roman's hat on her head and walking purposefully back towards the city. She was going to use every ounce of her skill to find out what Cinder's plan was, and where she was going next. She'd find Ruby too, and those little teammates of hers. There would be no time for rest: she would train, she would search, and she wouldn't stop until she remained as the sole survivor.

Cinder and Ruby were going to _die_.


End file.
